Even though it is the holiday season, nobody wants to get or give the ‘gift’ of civil litigation in a US Federal court. Not even a lawyer (I’m personally hoping for tickets to Bruce Springsteen’s new River tour, but I digress). I have spent a bit of virtual ink on this blog writing about how Irish and Northern Irish companies can avoid going to a US courthouse (I used a fancy phrase like ‘mitigate US litigation risk’), and I stand by that guidance. But if you do find yourself in a US Federal Court, some new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure aim to make civil suits speedier and less expensive. My colleague Ed Cadagin has written a client update on these amendments. The takeaways: the revised rules (i) shorten the timelines for actions such as serving the defendant and issuing scheduling orders; and (ii) limit discovery to that which is “proportional to the needs of the case,” replacing the former discovery standard of “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Ed’s full client alert can be read here. If you have to litigate here (and there will be times where US litigation is necessary), these rules should help make the experience more efficient for Irish and Northern Irish litigants.

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About Mike

Michael Burke is a partner in the Corporate Practice of Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP, in the Washington, DC office. He provides creative, effective, efficient, and 'business-sensible' legal advice so companies of all sizes, including emerging growth companies, can turn legal challenges into business opportunities. He has a specific focus on advising Irish and Northern Irish companies on doing business in the United States.

He is a past chair of the 23,000-member American Bar Association Section of International Law, and was the youngest person elected chair of that Section. Mr. Burke has an AV Preeminent™ Rating from Martindale-Hubbell; was named to Washington DC Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters; was awarded the Business & Finance Magazine Global 100 Irish Business Leaders 2014; and was named to the Irish Legal 100 in 2012 and 2013.

His father's family is from Cahir, Tipperary, and his mother's family is from Castlerea, Roscommon.